The Enfield Haunting - Brighton / Richmond / Ambassadors

Actually seeing some positive reviews about it today on social media! Maybe in its streamlined format it's turned a corner.

"We liked it", "Much better than expected" - I'd say "positive" is a fair description of those comments.

This wasn’t the complete trainwreck I was expecting. Trainwreck implies there’s something there that you just can’t look away from which is far from the case, here. It’s such a slight little ghost story with absolutely nothing at stake for anyone involved. Performances were all fine I suppose but at no time did I ever really care what happened to anybody on stage -

Spoilers below.

How am I ever supposed to care what happens to this family when we’re told “oh this chair in the center of the room is where this guy died” so we know from the start whatever ghost there is attached to that chair - SO GET RID OF IT. I mean, it came with the house, it ain’t even your chair, Lady! Chuck it on the curb and see if maybe your kids won’t become possessed? And nobody ever suggested this to her?

Horror, psychological horror at that, works best when you actually care (either way) about the characters and feel for what they’re going through. So when we’re presented with a family and characters we know nothing about and really learn nothing about outside what’s happening to them this one night, we’re just waiting for a brief scare to come along every 10 minutes or so in between long stretches of dialogue that essentially mean nothing.

I’m going to give it two stars but only because the last scare was effective and I got to see Catherine Tate on stage. But man, I wish she had chosen a better play.

I don't know if there is a way to edit my post on the Noticeboard, but I've still got two tickets for the 28th Dec matinee that I'm looking to offload if I can! Happy to let them go for £20 a pop at this point. Front row of the circle. :-)

Great, thanks!

Saw this last night and thoroughly enjoyed it.

75 minutes straight through, there's jump scares and some terrifying moments involving Janet, the younger of the two daughters in the family, as well as a human incarnation of the house's ghostly presence. Those moments punctuate an evening, the overnight period and the following morning in Enfield's most notorious residence.

Making her professional stage debut, Ella Schrey-Yeats is mesmerising as the haunted Janet, especially in the possession scenes, drawing gasps from the audience. I also enjoyed Grace Molony as the elder daughter, Margaret.

If Grace brings some of the play's lighter and comedic moments as a flirtatious teenager, and Ella some of the most frightening, it's all grounded in David Threlfall as paranormal investigator Maurice Grosse. His motivations first seem a curious obsession, then somewhat sinister and ultimately rather heartbreaking. It's a nuanced and subtle performance in a play that toys with the audience's perception of his character. Less subtle but noteworthy nevertheless is Daniel Stewart as Man, the house's former -and now deceased - occupant, who prowls in the shadows and provides a menacing presence in some of the show's most dramatic moments.

Catherine Tate is perfectly fine as the mother but, despite the substantial stage time, her character is peripheral to most of the key events, reacting to them, discussing their impact on her children and longing for normality. This isn't really her story.

The two-level set looks magnificent. It's hard to imagine how they could have brought 284 Green Street to the stage any better. Cameras, set up in the bedroom to record any movement during the night, give flashes of light during scenes of paranormal activity. This proves a clever way of enhancing the disconcerting nature - and ambiguity - of what's happening to the house's residents.

Overall, I felt this was a more cohesive whole - and a more satisfying ending - than 2:22 A Ghost Story. It also delivers more genuine scares, rather than relying on loud noises at the end of scenes like 2:22. Even something as simple as an apparently sleeping Janet's eyes bolting open immediately grabs the attention.

There was only really one scene that dragged a little for me, the rest has presumably been tightened considerably since the Richmond and Brighton performances. That said, I'd have liked more dialogue involving Janet, to get to know her as a person better, especially as so much of what's happening in the house is centred on her, not her mother. A few more moments of paranormal activity would have been welcome too, that's what the audience are there for after all, particularly since those moments that are included are so well executed and exhilarating. The Enfield Haunting is in much, much better shape - and far more absorbing - than the early feedback would suggest.

It looked like a full house at the Ambassadors last night. A fully engaged audience of all ages, with no one making an early exit (but some bafflingly late arrivals, including one couple taking their seats an hour in). There was enthusiastic applause and cheers for the cast at the bows. This is in four-star territory for me at the moment, with the potential to improve even further.

If you were tempted to see The Enfield Haunting at the Ambassadors, only to be deterred by the comments from the Richmond and Brighton dates on Facebook, I'd recommend giving the show a second chance and making your own mind up. I really don't expect this will receive the collective mauling from next week's press night that once seemed inevitable. I found it an absorbing, sometimes humorous snapshot of a notorious haunting that delivers some standout scares and plenty of food for thought. I'm happy to have seen it.

And if there happens to be a revival of The Exorcist in the offing, get Ella Schrey-Yeats signed up for it right away!

Whilst The Woman in Black is top tier ghost / horror genre theatre for me, this latest addition to the genre from the pen of Paul Unwin doesn’t hit that level, it offered far more as a viewing experience than 2:22 A Ghost Story ever did and for the 75 minute run time kept me entertained throughout the entire time. An engaging story with some actually scary moments and nice SFX on show. With a full house at the Ambassadors theatre tonight, it was certainly well received by the audience at the cast bows. Having got a TKTS ticket this morning for £33 (seat F5 in the circle) I felt I got value for what I watched and the nice and early 9.05pm finish time was very much welcomed.

The 2 storey house set from Lee Newby was excellent with the paranormal activity shown by some clever lighting and sound design. In terms of the cast, id agree with stevej678 post. Ella Schrey-Yeats gives a wonderful stage debut as the haunted Janet. Though I would have liked more focus on her character story in the writing as the story is based around that character. Grace Molony as Margaret gets some nice comedic moments to lighten the tone of the play. Catherine Tate as the mother Peggy was fine but it’s David Threlfall as investigator Maurice Gosse that was the standout of me. A subtle performance that makes you question his motives right up to the end. With the writing as a whole there was a nice blend of comedy (some nice LOL lines) and emotional stuff that was well delivered by the cast.

Rating - 4⭐️

It’s just totally bizarre

That even post pandemic

Utter waste makes it onto west end stages

Again unless people vote with their pockets

The producers won’t learn

And this show in particular is a rehashed version of a story which has already been a TV show and documentary

No one wanted it as a play

Everything you heard in advance is true. It boggles the mind. 1 star from The Times just in and I expect a full roster of 1's and 2's to come .... :-(

3* from Arifa in the Guardian, who seems to have been the only critic who liked it within reason.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Arifa's bizarre comments and reviews make her unsuited for her role as a theatre critic. She simply doesn't know what she's talking about.